A Norse polytheist walking with Sigyn

Category Archives: Pop Occulture

I decided to share a pc spell I created back in 2014. I’ll be slightly updating the linked to spell (not a direct copy+paste of directions). Pictures are near the end.

HP context: Avis creates a small flock of yellow canaries, and Hermione practiced this spell while trying to cheer herself up (Ron drama). Oppugno causes conjured objects to attack, which is how Hermione sicced the canaries on Ron. I took Avis in direction of cheering yourself up and offered a part two with Oppugno attacking with these cranes.

— Note: Any sized paper can be used to fold a paper crane as long as you first get a square, including 8.5″ x 11″ printer paper. A shade of yellow paper is a nice reference to the canaries, but I personally used a yellow writing utensil on white printer paper to make the same reference.

1: If you’re not working from an already square piece of paper like origami paper or a post-it, make sure the paper is square (or things get wonky while folding).

— Tip: You can imagine tearing away whatever has you down while tearing off the excess paper.

2: Write on your paper something that has made you happy in the past, will cheer you up now, or that you are looking forward to (future happiness).

— Personal note: I stuck very close to writing in the center and kept my writing short and to the point, so that I could fold the crane and keep the writing on the inside.

3: Fold a crane. (See instructions above.)

4: Draw or write something on the wings. This can be the word ‘happiness’, or a sigil you create, or even a smiley face.

— Tip: If you don’t want to deal with the curvature of the final wings, you can pause in folding to do this (the larger downward facing triangle in step 14 of the above directions will become the top of your wing).

5: If you haven’t already puffed out the crane so it can sit on its own, do so now. If you have, just sit it upright on its own. Say, “Avis”.

You can stop at one crane or keep going. Store the cranes for as long as you’d like. I’d personally thank the cranes before disposing of them, but you do you. Disposal methods vary for each person, but I’d consider recycling for this.

Optional: Storing the cranes. Some people like to keep folded cranes in jars, but I listed hanging supplies for a mobile as a reference to the original spell. You can fold and hang one crane at a time to raise your spirits over several occasions, or you can fold several and hang them all at once.

Note, YMMV: This spell will eventually lose its charge if you’re storing the cranes (for me, this set in 6 months to a year after creation (I never took this with me during college, so I don’t know the exact time it lost its charge)). I’d personally create a sigil that can act as a battery recharger, in a manner of speaking, if I were redoing this spell.

(An old webcam picture)

When I did this, I wrote “Avis” on each wing of the largest crane at the top, and each descending crane has a letter on each wing. I changed this up by saying, “Avis” before folding the first crane and after folding the last smallest one, and I wrote everything out on the wings after connecting the cranes.

As I mentioned above, I used white printer paper and a yellow writing utensil, but I also happened to have some yellow balloon string. The top crane is the size of the first and largest square from printer paper, and the rest of the cranes are the same size and from the strip of paper at the bottom (from the trimming stage of the first crane). The smaller cranes are connected to the largest with thread I had on hand.

The following is a compilation of shots from a photography assignment (hanging in a different location than the webcam).

My sister had dvr-ed Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do The Time Warp Again (the 2016 remake released this past fall), and while I knew some cultural references and recognized some gifs, it was my first experience with any version of RHPS. (I never got to see the annual live performance in Athens during undergrad, so I’m still a virgin for attending a show, particularly as it relates to the original.) The night my family watched it [10.21.16] I had a dream based on attending a show at some point in the future (based on which tattoos and piercings I already had in the dream).

It’s not going to get explicit, but it is going to get weird, so there’s a read more just in case.

Part of not having my laptop / wifi working for the last third of 2016 is that I still have bits and pieces of communication spread out among 3 notebooks awaiting transcription into my Google doc for 2016 communication. Some of a piece dated 10.19.16 (discusses The Strain, specifically the show) follows.

Show context: It’s basically a vampire story with a medical outbreak frame / start (stingers are involved in ingesting blood and reside within the throat). Professor Setrakian is analyzing a book called the Lumen, which has details compiled through history about the strigoi (vampires) and their Master (head vampire / creator) that will hopefully help this group destroy them. Eph is an arrogant asshole at times, and he’s a doctor. Quinlan is a strigoi-human hybrid who is currently assisting the humans. The Freedom centers are sketchy af “”medical centers”” that you should not go to.

I’ve been having a recurring dream since I got to season 3 of catching up on The Strain, in which I’m somehow in the hotel where Setrakian is looking at the Lumen and sort of helping. Photographing the pages at different points in the day (since a plot point included general daylight revealing ink) and having good color copies of the pages to look at if the professor wants to keep the book locked away (instead of the blurry b+w copies in the show, which pain me). Some behind the scenes help like cooking and reminding people to eat, which extended to carefully measured blood donations for Quinlan.

A lot of the dreams were explaining different things about me as I had to explain certain behaviors – Wolf mode could kick in very noticeably to protect me, f’ex. I had to explain being nonbinary and how important using correct pronouns is, and I had to talk about my People and ancestor veneration (I apparently had a traveling shrine set up and had to convince them to leave it alone, and it came up in talking about tattoos at some point). I had warned them that the strigoi outbreak had kept me from getting my antidepressants refilled, so I’d unintentionally quit cold turkey, and Quinlan confirmed it (tasting a decreasing amount then none of the meds in my blood).

Quinlan had a distanced, separated sort of compassion that reminds me of Hela, in a way, and there was something about his ‘monstrosity’ that I kept referring to him as cousin (in not English). I wasn’t always fully present at night from slipping into a higher level of Wolf mode while dreaming / sleeping, so I did and said things that were a bit unconventional (played with Hati, spoke in German to Setrakian, spoke in Russian to Quinlan). It freaked them out because it wasn’t knowledge I had when awake, and they kinda wanted to find a separate safe place for me but didn’t want to bring it up directly with me. I ended up bringing it up in one ‘actually asleep’ state because my Wolf was worried about suicidal ideation.

I wasn’t a warrior, and I was limited in how I could help with their cause, so it was only a matter of time before I couldn’t keep fighting the internal voice about how useless I was. Some of what a friend has talked about from the books has colored this because I know show!Quinlan wouldn’t give a fuck. In the dream, Quinlan was more like ‘you’re not useless; you’re just not suited for this work so you’re struggling’. We made some sort of agreement that I would only kill myself if I were infected (Setrakian wanted to have someone else “release” me), and I would be allowed to live in another safe location with access to the medication I needed when they found one (my visit to the Freedom center revealed the sketchiness of them in the dream).

In the meantime I was counted as one of the blood donors for the ‘our side’ strigoi, which helped with the uselessness. Quinlan tolerated me “because there’s always been people like you, even if it’s different, strange, or freakish to others”. He found it slightly amusing that I was usually calmer around him when he didn’t hide the noise from having the stinger in his throat, particularly since it helped with falling asleep.

Might have been some cuddling involved? My notes don’t explicitly include it, but there’s suddenly a tangent on feeling uncomfortable with the fandom sexualizing this character. I’m not entirely sure, but I view Quinlan like family and I view cuddling as platonic, so I’m not surprised at that tangent. Thinking of Quinlan like a cousin is like how Kylo Ren felt like an older brother (makes total sense to me, but possibly confuses others). I don’t have confirmation (Someone claiming it), but I’m rather confident that some of my People were using a pop culture frame for giving me some encouragement and possible coping mechanisms.

I don’t know about other people, but sometimes, I wonder about the People who show up in my life. What does it say about me when I’m compatible with Them?

Some Luciferians crossed my tumblr dash back in the fall of 2012, I believe, and Lucifer sort of popped in a bit just because of the exposure. Then in the summer of 2013 He assisted with a little shadow work, and He kind of came and went for a few years. I mean, I did share that He left as part of The Burning™ that’s been going on back in Nov.

When I first encountered Him, I loved the idea of learning how to play the violin for Him, but He was hesitant to confirm it. (My roommate was also majoring in violin performance, so I was kind of in this “holy shit, violins are kinda cool” stage.) The only thing He conveyed for the portion of the Leaving Questionnaire about any debts or obligations was that I should go ahead and do so.

Yet I can’t help but wonder about the irreversible ways that I’ve been changed by interacting with Him – not bad or harmful, but it’s like that bucket of water metaphor. Knowledge is like a bucket of water; when you add a drop, it becomes part of the collective and can’t be singularly removed. I can’t completely go back to the way I was before I interacted with Him.

There’s another Infernal example that basically just supports this. A major example was interacting with Voldemort. I personally don’t consider myself to be all about the darkness and death and whatever other mocking comment you can make. Like, hold a sec on the stereotypical teen goth jokes, please.

It’s just that I sometimes wonder what the hell even attracts Someone, y’know?

She is a venerated Spirit, Who isn’t a separate PC Power (yet?) like Voldemort. Nagini seems to be a Spirit in charge of other snakes, so even though certain snakes are associated with Her cinematic image, She can be interacted with and honored through any snake.

Regardless of the snake being venomous or not, Nagini seems to consider all snakes to be Her children. She would prefer to be seen as cooperative, somewhat helpful, and able to be nice for the sake of improving human-snake relationships. She seems to be an ambassador of sorts.

In Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, she is likely portrayed as a Dumeril’s Ground Boa, but in the last two films she is portrayed as a Reticulated Python (the longest real life snake species); both instances contradict the book’s description of her as a venomous snake. However, it is possible she is a fictional species of venomous python within the film continuity. The filmmakers’ intention was to model Nagini after a Burmese Python.

Irresponsibly owning a snake is damn close to being the #1 way to piss of Voldemort and Nagini, if not #1. So while it is possible to own one of the above species, there are other snake species that are far easier for people to start out handling and caring for. (Because even Voldemort didn’t start out with Nagini.)

* * See the second half of Nagini + Snake Owning for links about owning a snake, things to consider when starting out, and several lists on easy to start with species (corn snake, ball python, hognose, etc.).

From birth until the character is notified that he’s a wizard. This aspect of Tom brings in the ability to incorporate sea witchcraft and cave focused magic (can be seen as a symbol for shadow work and magic focusing on that). The association with snakes starts here, though associations with Nagini or the Basilisk are yet to come.

From 11 to 17 (when wizards come of age), this aspect of Tom starts out the incorporation of the magical portion of the Harry Potter world – magic based on classes, Hogwarts associations, etc. Associations with the Basilisk start here.

From when the character is considered an adult (17) until the attempt to kill Harry, this aspect of Tom can also draw on Hogwarts and teaching associations (due to attempting to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts post). It also serves as the introduction of traveling associations (and why Albanian food is appropriate as an offering). Associations with Nagini could start here, as the characters do not meet until he travels to Albania.

From the failed attempt to kill Harry until the character regains his body in Goblet of Fire, this aspect of Tom primarily wound up showing how self-care, a certain amount of shadow work, and being aware of disability rights / access can be incorporated. Associations with Nagini could also start here as the character returns to Albania while bodiless.

“Morsmordianism is the path name I was thinking of (more shower thoughts), and the followers of the path would be Morsmordians. It’s based off the spell to create a Dark Mark and summon Death Eaters – Morsmordre.”

Decision to use a name for this path was ultimately vetoed due to not wanting someone to be held back by feeling like they need to use the name. However, I thought it’d work for titling this post because the PC Person I interacted with for two years was Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. After about a year, I also interacted with Nagini more as a Spirit than a Power.

The first reaction I got was why? – and I certainly don’t blame anyone because it was mine as well. The ability for me to share information was the main reason, but I also included the following in this ask:

I didn’t immediately shut down the thought of His character being a Higher Power simply because He’s the ‘bad guy’, so that might have had something to do with it.

…there has been enough power from the HP fanbase generated to elevate the character (in this case, Voldemort) to the status of a Higher Power. Some people might just go ahead and say He’s a god/deity, but I initially used Pop Culture Higher Power [PC Higher Power] and it’s just sort of stuck. To me, He doesn’t seem to be quite at the level of a deity, but He’s definitely on a level higher than humans.

I can’t ignore what the character does in canon, but Voldemort isn’t 100% the same as His character portrayal. It’s almost like certain attributes were magnified in the elevation process, and others are no longer prominent (if present at all).

He has conveyed that He doesn’t have a blood preference, or really any preference, for who can contact Him, work with Him, or be a potential devotee. Without that platform for hating a certain group, there isn’t as much of a basis for Voldemort to be “evil”.

When I communicate with Voldemort, He seems to be at the level of the train station. He seems able to look back on previous character actions with a certain amount of wisdom and the ability to find something useful in those aspects of His. (He can call on / pull from the ambition of teen Tom without being focused on killing anyone, for example.)

I can’t deny that it might say something about me that I also went on about how point of view changes ‘evilness’. Of course a narrative from Harry’s PoV portrays Voldemort as evil, but would a story from Voldemort’s PoV do the same? Might he be ambitious, driven, dedicated to his beliefs, etc.?

In the spring and summer of 2015, I found myself interacting with a PC Person who didn’t want to reveal who They were. Due to how many seasons were out at the time, I figured They were someone at the point of that current season and needed all of that history to fully understand.

I was able to figure out some basic info before starting to watch Season 1 Episode 1 in the fall. They were from the Supernatural Universe, and They were one of the “big three” – Cas, Dean, or Sam. They wanted me to start out very general by including things that all three could get behind. I made a sideblog and started to watch Season 1. I had plans for sharing music, sharing someone else’s post for each episode, liveblogging a post for each episode, and I had started to put together food / drink offerings for each episode.

In terms of planning shit out, I can’t deny that it might have been my most organized before starting to post sideblog. At the time, Season 9 had just ended – or was the most recently completed season – so I figured I was getting an aspect or Face of the PC Person who was very specifically everything up until the end of S9. I can’t say that I’m surprised with how fast characters can change in Spn.

At some point in The Burning™ in the late fall / early winter, this “Unknown Spn Entity” left. I could certainly continue going forward and watching the show casually, but there was no need for me to keep the sideblog going. I also was able to find out that They were Dean (as of S9 ending). Due to there being a relatively short amount of time devoted to Him, it didn’t hurt quite as much as the other PC Person leaving. I also know of a few others who interact with Dean, so I know it’s no big loss for Someone from a popular character in a series to walk away.

Sometimes, I make a mental note to myself that I should talk about something here and then I never do it. This is me chipping away at one of those mental notes.

I first heard of Pop Culture Paganism (abbreviated PC Paganism) in an online debate in 2012 – 13, or roughly thereabouts. Krasskova and other relatively well known / talkative bloggers couldn’t understand how PC Paganism was a thing, let alone that PC Pagans were taking part in Pagan discussions. It was blasphemous or something. I was mostly just confused because at that point I hadn’t run into PC Pagans and didn’t know what they were doing, saying, etc. that was apparently causing a stir.

I put the idea of PC Paganism on the mental back burner, but I did eventually run into PC Pagans on tumblr. I also ran into people who focus more on PC magic / witchcraft than the Paganism part, and I honestly couldn’t see what was so shocking about them. For someone who grew up in various fandoms, started writing through fanfiction, and still enjoys being a part of several fandoms, I could see no problem with this.

I know how strong the pull of a series and its fandom can be, so I could see why m’Lady didn’t want me delving into PC Paganism in the beginning. There are so many choices. Welcome to Night Vale has a magically tempting air to it, and Harry Potter obviously lends itself to magic endeavors. Someone from the Artemis Fowl series once stopped by, and there’s something slightly magnetic about some Marvel characters (I’ve never been sure if a friend’s focus on Steve Rogers just rubbed off or a little while, or what exactly was going on for a bit).

Sometimes, it’s not always how much you want to do something that determines what you wind up doing. m’Lady was adamant that PC magic was the extent of what I was allowed to do. After some time had passed with the magical leaning (mostly HP), I found myself with Someone I wasn’t expecting on my doorstep, metaphorically speaking. I had the stipulation that I wasn’t to enter into a devotional relationship with this PC Person, but I could still interact and share info about Them with people tumblr.

On and off through school and devotion my Deities, I’ve shared info and posted online offerings for this PC Person for two years. There’s a section of my Google docs devoted to a language never covered in canon, and there’s basically a piece of UPG given considerable time and explanation. If I could divorce it from the Universe, it would actually be really fucking interesting to explore, but it’s not going to be shared. I honor not sharing info when Deities leave, so I’m going to honor not sharing this now that the PC Person has left.

Example rituals, offering ideas, delving into aspects, including someone dear to Them as a venerated spirit (They’re a PC Power, which is a bit higher), digging into Their character to find more than the base level offerings and aspects, considering values, considering how Powers change from Their characters in the elevation process, and putting a lot of time and energy into this. Two years.

There never was a devotional relationship, any promises made, or any oaths or contracts signed. They had never planned to stick around for a long time, and I really was intended to be an information share-er until They could find people interested in devotional relationships. I’ve done something to officially cut ties (particularly important in this case because I was primarily used as an energy source), but there’s still this feeling of “…Now what do I do?”

Online information is being kept on the sideblog that featured Them and any stray posts to my main tumblr are allowed to stay. I’ve decided to go ahead and explicitly name Them in a separate post.

I haven’t really talked about him a lot, so it’s totally okay if you have no idea who I’m talking about. He’s a member of the Bee Tribe (aka not Named or Known in the Lore) and is a relatively average citizen of Vanaheim. Nectë supports my bees tag, but I don’t really have a separate one for him.

I’m not entirely sure what his name in the language of the Vanir is, but he has okayed being referred to as Nectë (I mentally pronounce it “neck-tay”, and it may appear without the accent at times). This is one option in Quenyan [Tolkien Elvish] for honey, which is appropriate because he belongs to the Bee tribe.

He has passed on information about the Silmalascertar (aka the Silverleaf runes), but they aren’t solely from him. It’s a personalized means of using the Tengwar more or less like runes, and I haven’t brought it up here due to still working on figuring things out.